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Sunday, December 18, 2011

Writers & Readers – The New Partnership

I recently had the experience of asking my local library,
The Mechanic’s Institute, for a review for my book – something they do for
their members. Now I love this library and recommend it for any bookster-nerd
who pines for the days of old leather chairs, 20 foot high ceilings with books
climbing all the way to the top, balconies full of periodicals, and that
special smell of leather and paper mixing in eerily quiet surroundings.

MI was kind enough to stock my book and even offered it up
to its review panel. Getting reviewed by former Publishers Weekly editors is
not something for the lighthearted, but I have to admit, the private critique
wasn’t a surprise. It contained all the standard admonitions: poor use of
flashbacks, character growth, relationships, coincidences, terminology, and the
dreaded dues ex machina (God out of
the machine) – a contrivance that authors sometimes use when they write
themselves into a corner…hey miracles happen, right?

Actually, I had to smile when I read the review. The
reviewer was very polite and earnest, obviously disappointed in the lack of
literary standards in my story. But one of the reasons independent publishing
is exploding onto the literary landscape is that we authors can finally tell
the stories we want to tell the way we want to tell them – dues ex machina be damned. The gatekeepers lost the keys to the
gates and many of them still don’t realize we’re coming through.

However, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t tell a good story.
More important than reviewers and aging standards are the readers. We have to
respect the readers and allow them to experience a well-told adventure between
the pages. One thing the literary elite forgets all too often is the fact that
over the years, readers have been disappearing. They were turning into an
endangered species. Frankly, the publishing establishment deserves a large part
of the blame. As they were protecting the gates against most newcomers, they
were accepting celebrity garbage, political tell-alls, and biographies from
15-minute famers that were more fiction than reality. I mean how much quality
writing do you think is in Kardashian Konfidential? But the publishers will rush
Ms. K’s trash to the bookshelves in order to cash in on the celebrity factor.
How about Justin Bieber’s biography? Really - a bio from a 16 year old?

So what I am thrilled about is that despite the same tired
critiques that new authors receive from editors, publishers and reviewers, we
can bypass them completely and get our books out there. We crashed the gates
and there is no turning back. I get to tell the story I want to tell the way I
want to tell it. We’ve cut out the middlemen and are going direct from writer
to reader.

Night Flight is in
local bookstores whose owners are pleased to have it on their shelves. It is
available at all online retail outlets and is selling and getting good reader
feedback. What more could an author ask for? In this new era where the reader
is who really matters, writers need to seek their acceptance and worry less
about dues ex machina.

And lest one thinks I’ve not met my obligation to the
readers, here is the very first reader review I ever received from a reader in
Canada and is no relation or friend. She awarded it 5 of 5 stars:

“What a great book. Great story and extremely well written.
Very good character development and easy to identify with. I can be somewhat of
a skimmer but Alessa's descriptions kept me right there with her the whole
time. I was sorry to see the book end and I would definitely read more of this
writer's books. Loved it.”